Of course we've had enough decaying movie palaces here in the States too... Friend of mine was involved in a recent effort to buy and restore one, but they couldn't raise what the owner was asking for it so it continues to sit unrestored, and dubiously maintained.

Many great one screen cinemas on the North American continent are shuttered too. If they still stand they're venues for churches. A few are retail stores. But most are bulldozed and the land used for something else. It always saddened me to see a once great social hub no longer in existence.